i feel like a parent.

i know that may seem like an odd thing to say after 28 months of having jack live with us, but we have reached a milestone tonight that just made this realization come to surface... the first night of the toddler bed. that's right, jackie is no longer in a crib. his bed has the teeny little rails up and he has free roam if he chooses. i knew this was coming, i was trying to deny it, but the more i thought about it, the more i realized i didn't want to have my sweet little toddler in a cast from a broken limb. so after three escapes, we made the conversion tonight. we kept him up a little later than usual, read a few more books than usual, and i stayed at his side a little longer than usual. he showed me all his stuffed animals, named each one of them for me, and then was being really sweet giving hugs and kisses a few times over. i asked him to lay his head down, and then i asked him if he was going to be a big boy tonight, and he responded how i assumed he would no, no, no. regardless, i shut his door all the way and here i am, an hour later and there has been no peep out of him. or rather, he has not tried to escape his room. ben is pretty adamant about going in to see him tonight "the camcorder has night vision, annie!" but i would rather not push our luck with opening the door, making any noise.

maybe this is no big deal to others, but it really makes me feel that so many years have just flashed before my eyes. just the other day, ben and i were laying in bed, daydreaming about the day when jack and his sister would come bounding into our bed. how fun will that be?! i just assumed that it would be many, many years down the road - not two days later! it's all a lot for this pregnant brain to digest. speaking of which...

i am 35 weeks today. 5 weeks to go. that's a month and a week. that's 35 days. that's crazy. apparently, baby girl is measuring anywhere from 19-22 inches and about 5.5 pounds. she is about the size of a cantaloupe. which coincidentally, is about what two other parts of my body feel like. she is still head down, so fingers crossed that she doesn't decided to get wild one night and turn on me. she is getting the best of the right side of my ribs and drinking late into the night - she is a hiccup-er just like her brother was! the back aches are more frequent, but i feel extremely blessed to have made it this far and just now feeling that pain. (with jack, it started at 5 months.) although, it's not so bad because taking a bath usually makes it all better. and what's more relaxing these days than a warm bath?!